The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'BrienMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved the Birthmarked Trilogy, and I know I have said it before, but the 2nd book in the trilogy
was so much stronger than the first book and I was thoroughly impressed with the turn the second book took. That being said, I was ecstatic to see another title by Caragh M. O'Brien.Rosie attends a boarding prep school that is a hybrid reality TV show and elite arts academy. The Forge School has talented students that are required to sleep 12 hours a night-induced by sleeping pills, a "blip ranking" system that determines revenue for the popular students and dark secrets that Rosie attempts to unveil.
Vault of Dreamers is a cross between Something Real, Uglies and something much more sinister. The nods to the The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes and Roman mythology were appreciated in this book about perception, dreams and perspective. The ideas and theories about dreams and creativity, reality and brain development are absolutely fascinating. More fascinating to me is the separation of Rosie's consciousness...
The ending of this book was...disturbing. It was more open-ended than most YA books I have read, and while it could have stood on its own, with a whole mystifying and somewhat unsatisfying conclusion, I am pleased that there will be a sequel and follow-up to Rosie's story.
[SPOILERS BELOW]
I am intrigued to see how O'Brien handles the separation of Rosie's conscious self with her subconscious self. I want to see what happens if Rosie is placed into another body. The exploration of posthuman concepts has the potential to be more interesting than those I have read about in books such as Starters or The Adoration of Jenna Fox. This book is so rich in content, characterization and plot that I think I am going to start reading it again right now.
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